Kate Gosselin clarifies photo

Thursday

Jun 27, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 27, 2013 at 11:59 AM

Celebrity chef Paula Deen isn't the only TV star facing accusations of racism these days. Kate Gosselin - the titular matriarch of Jon & Kate Plus 8 and Kate Plus 8, a pair of TLC series that profiled her family of twins and sextuplets from 2007 to 2011 - is under fire for a "personal photo" that surfaced without her permission.

Kate Gosselin — the titular matriarch of Jon & Kate Plus 8 and Kate Plus 8, a pair of TLC series that profiled her family of twins and sextuplets from 2007 to 2011 — is under fire for a “ personal photo” that surfaced without her permission.

Gosselin seems to make a racist gesture in the photograph, pulling her eyes back as if mocking Asians.

The reality-TV personality clarified the context of the photo on her blog, calling it “a happy memory” from her former marriage to Jon Gosselin.

“Jon and I were opening fan mail together one afternoon, . . . and, when we opened this plastic Asian dress-up wig sent from a caring fan, we smiled, each taking turns posing in it and snapping photos,” she wrote. “Evidently, a fan sent it for me to wear so that I, too, could ‘be Asian’ like the rest of my family.”

Gosselin dismissed any speculation about racist tendencies: “I married an Asian. I have eight biracial children. I’m quite certain that I’m the last person who could be called a racist.”

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